Registration
N 56°10'46.2'' E 095°43'01.0''
Day: 19
Sunrise:
04:56 pm
Sunset:
10:26 pm
Total kilometers:
11101.25 Km
Temperature – Day (maximum):
26 °C
Temperature – day (minimum):
20 °C
Temperature – Night:
12 °C
Latitude:
56°10’46.2”
Longitude:
095°43’01.0”
I get up exhausted. My side of the pull-out sofa is as hard as a board and the stupid mosquitoes kept biting me. “Dobre utra!” (Good morning), Andrej greets us cheerfully. “Are you hungry? We’re having breakfast,” he says and invites us into the kitchen. Tanja and I take the opportunity to declare that we want to move into a gastiniza today. “We need access to the internet. Denis has to write and we need to register,” says Tanja. As soon as we have said what we want, Andrej calls his friend Michael. “No problem at all. Michael will sort it out,” says Andrej with a smile, ending the phone call. “But we need a registration from a guestiniza. That’s important when we leave the country,” I say and try to explain to Andrei that every foreigner staying in Russia has to provide proof of such a cumbersome registration. This means that if you stay in one place for three days, Tanja has to go to a registration office to get a stamp. Only then are we official. Failure to obtain such stamps can have very serious consequences when leaving the country. Since we have been in Russia, registration has been an unpleasant, time-consuming and costly activity for us. “No problem. Michael will register you in a guestiniza and bring you the necessary stamp. He’s my boss and the director of our organization. It’s a piece of cake for him,” Andrej reassures us.
A little later, Michael turns up. “Here’s the stamp,” he says and proudly shows us a large stamp that he pulls out of a cardboard box. “The stamp must be printed on an official form. A print on blank paper is worthless,” we explain, whereupon we show our registration that Katja had obtained for us in Krasnoyarsk. Michael now studies the form and wants to know where we got it. “There are two ways to register. One is at the post office and one is at a larger Gastiniza,” we explain. “Let’s go to the post office then,” suggests Michael. “But nowadays we also need internet access and these internet cafés are usually located next to a Gastinza. So honestly, it’s no problem for us to move into a guesthouse,” we say. “Absolutely not. It’s far too expensive. You can stay here with my friend Andrej. I have internet at home and we can register at the post office. I have the necessary stamp,” he says. As we have learned from experience that it makes little sense to go headlong into the wall, we give up our resistance. “There must be a reason why the hospitable people don’t want to let us go,” I ponder.
We say goodbye to Andrei, who now has to drive to Krasnoyarsk in his Lada, and get into Michael’s car to get to the center of Kansk. We get the necessary forms at the post office. After struggling with the Cyrillic for 30 minutes, Michael hands our completed papers to the officer behind the counter. “This is filled out incorrectly,” she says, handing it back to Michael. Then Michael takes matters into his own hands and places the Cyrillic letters in the boxes provided. Another 30 minutes pass, but unfortunately his documents are not accepted either. “Come with me,” says Michael, inviting us into his car and taking us to a government office. There he directs us to a bench where we should wait for him. “I’ll be right back,” he says and disappears into an office. After 10 minutes he comes back. The officers follow him. We are startled at first. The officials think they want something from us. However, the officials are not interested in us at all. They walk past us and leave the building. It’s lunch break and they have interrupted their work. Michael gets us back into his car and takes us to the post office again. Once again, we get new forms. After about 45 minutes, Tanja calls Katja, who is now back at work in the remote oil field in northern Siberia. “Of course I’ll help you,” she says on the other side of the line, whereupon Tanja forwards her cell phone to Michael so that Katja can explain the procedure for filling out the form. Then, after another 30 minutes or so, the first form is ready and is accepted by the official. The second form is now also correct. We have to pay 380 roubles (8.63 euros) and copy everything. In the meantime, the counter with the photocopier has closed. The friendly postal worker relents and copies the papers herself. At 16:30 we are indeed registered for another five days and today has almost passed.
